In recent years, charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have been used within recording devices such as still-shot cameras, movie cameras, television cameras, telescopes, and other recording devices.
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an instrument comprising an array of light sensitive elements, such as capacitors, that are charged by incoming light and the generated current is recorded. CCDs are advantageous in recording devices since CCDs are highly sensitive to light, and due to their inherent digital nature, easily incorporated into electronic machines. For example, in telescopes for recording celestial images, CCDs record a higher percentage of light reaching the CCD than does conventional film-based telescopes.
In addition to visible light, CCDs are also sensitive to non-visible radiation.